MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire – Dec 13, 2012) – Today Appcelerator®, a leading mobile development platform provider, and industry-leading analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) announced results of a joint survey of nearly 3,000 mobile developers. The survey findings demonstrate that developers expect mobile to continue to be pervasive both in enterprise investments and consumers’ lives. In addition to the expansion of mobile connected devices, developers predict consumers will dramatically change their shopping behaviors through the availability of mobile commerce sites and mobile payment options.

“I am blown away by this quarter’s survey results related to retail,” said Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie. “We’ve known that more and more consumers are augmenting their brick-and-mortar shopping with mobile buying experiences, but this quarter over 90 percent of developers anticipate most retail companies will offer a mobile commerce experience in 2013. These findings stress the ubiquity of mobile and the need for the best user experiences that are available to consumers who want to shop and pay anywhere, anytime, on any device.”

“This quarter’s survey findings are very consistent with last quarter’s findings: iOS and Android remain the top targets for developers. While this isn’t terribly surprising, it underscores the challenges competitors face as they try to establish their own platforms in the market,” said John Jackson, Research Vice President, Mobile & Connected Platforms at IDC. “It will be most interesting to see how retailers drive the mobile transformation predicted by developers in 2013.”

Interest in iOS and Android Platforms Remains Strong & Stable
Despite the introduction of new products in Q4 and the massive success of devices like the iPad mini, Amazon Kindle, Samsung Galaxy S III, and iPhone 5, developer interest in the most popular platforms (i.e. iOS, Android) remains high, but relatively unchanged since Q3 2012. Though interest in individual platforms remains unchanged, development across multiple environments is expected to increase. Nearly 88 percent of developers predict they will be developing for two or more operating systems over the next year, a significant increase from the 69 percent figure reported in Q3 2012. Developers specifically expect to be working on multiple operating systems as it relates to mobile applications, with 49 percent reporting they plan to build mobile apps for two operating systems and 39 percent reporting they plan to build mobile apps for three or more operating systems.

Amazon Kindle Struggles
Despite Amazon’s sizeable investment in its signature Kindle tablet, developers doubt that the device provides significant application revenue opportunities. Less than 22 percent of mobile developers are “very interested” in building mobile apps for the Amazon Kindle. This indicates that the Kindle’s install base and revenue potential are too small to entice developers to build for the platform.

Google Nexus Starts Strong
An unprecedented number of respondents express strong interest in developing mobile apps for the Nexus platform. More than 53 percent of developers report being very interested in building apps for the device, nearing interest levels expressed for Android tablets overall. Two-thirds of developers feel positive about Google’s entrance into the tablet market with the introduction of the Nexus. Many developers believe Google is providing leadership for the Android tablet market and is taking a more direct role in Android development, a move that may help the company curtail much of the fragmentation issues that have frustrated developers in the past.

Microsoft Surface Insufficient
Microsoft’s Surface tablet has yet to excite the developer community. Of those surveyed, 45 percent are unimpressed by the hardware and 35 percent think Microsoft needs to do more to be successful. Even though the hardware is now available, developer interest in building applications for the platform is consistent with the results of the past two surveys, remaining relatively low at 36 percent.

Mobile Will Forever Change Retail
An astounding 93 percent of mobile developers anticipate that it is “likely to very likely” that most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce in 2013. Consumer behavior continues to underscore this transformation. Developers predict that 86 percent of shoppers will look up a retailer’s site on their device while shopping in a physical retail store in 2013. Nearly two-thirds of developers also believe that consumers will make more purchases via their mobile phone than their credit card in 2013, which is reinforced by the fact that 71 percent of developers predict the mobile wallet will permeate the consumer experience in 2013.

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 46 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

About Appcelerator
Appcelerator is the leading mobile development platform of choice for thousands of enterprises including eBay, Merck, Mitsubishi Electric, NBC, PayPal and Ray-Ban, as they become mobile-first organizations. With more than 50,000 mobile applications deployed on 90 million devices, Appcelerator’s award-winning open source development platform (Titanium) and Appcelerator Cloud Services are used to create native apps across multiple devices including iOS, Android, Windows and BlackBerry, as well as hybrid and HTML5 mobile web. Customers who standardize on Appcelerator’s solutions get to market 70 percent faster and achieve a significant competitive advantage. Appcelerator’s worldwide ecosystem includes 400,000 mobile developers and hundreds of ISVs and strategic partners including SAP and Cognizant. For more information visit www.appcelerator.com

Appcelerator is a registered trademark of Appcelerator Inc. Appcelerator Titanium is a trademark of Appcelerator Inc. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.